Apparatus for opening cotton and like fibrous material



Z. SZALOKI APPARATUS FOR OPENING COTTON AND LIKE FIBROUS MATERIAL Filed June 22, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l ANH .HHH HH Nlhll NWWIIIIIUIH HIIIWIIHHH WW1 INIIHIIMIU 1. S

Z. SZALOKI Dec. s, 1953 APPARATUS FOR OPENING COTTON AND LIKE FIBROUS MATERIAL- Filed June 22, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 8, 1953 ear aNr v`oFFrola;A

2,661,501' arrmArUs-frois eremita-corran AND yrmaous Maritieme;

Zoltan Szalo'ki, Helmshoreyossendalei. England,A assigner ot one-half to1 Blatt Brothers irl-)om-y pany Limited,K Oldham, England The present invention relates to the opening of cotton andV likebrous material.

In the conventional type of vertical opener in which the' bre is treated' b'etween a revolving beater? and a stationary grid" the cleaning eniei'eificyvr is'vlimitedby-` the area off the grid: andil the speedof tlief-revolvinAg-beaten.: Itlas beemfourid te be irnpracticable toincreas llie gridi. area or tol-use? higher speedsi oiitlieexlis ng typeoiimacirinawitheut cur-lir-ig` the cotton; and itf-isanr object of the presentinventionftoprovide an improved method and apparatus with improved openingm and cleaning eflici'e'ncy and which does not damage thet fibre;

According to the present invention a method of treating cotton and like fibrous material consists in treating the material between two or more revolving beaters the blades of which cooperate to exert an opening action by which the cohering masses of fibres are separated and included trash expelled therefrom.

According to a further feature of the invention apparatus for carrying out the above method comprises two or more revolving beaters enclosed in a common casing and cooperating with a single grid surrounding the beaters.

The beaters employed in accordance with the invention in a vertical opener are of the inverted truste-conical form heretofore commonly found in openers of this type, their rotary axes being inclined to one another, and the tips of the blades on the respective beaters being arranged to operate in zones which are staggered in such fashion that the libres ejected between the blades of one beater are directly intercepted by the tips of the blades of the adjoining beater or beaters.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. Fig. 1 o1 said drawings is a sectional elevation of a vertical opener incorporating two beaters and Fig. 2 and 3 are respectively an end elevation and a plan thereof; in this case the untreated material is fed into the casing at a point near to the base of one beater and the opened bres are discharged in a vertical direction at the top. This embodiment may be modified by the addition of a feed inlet to the base of the second beater, as indicated in dotted lines. Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively an end elevation and a plan of another embodiment in which the opened fibres are discharged in a horizontal direction; this form of machine may also be modified by the addition of a separate feed inlet to the second beater as shown in dotted lines.

Thermar-:nine illustrated; in? l'gs;` 1 to' 3' come prises)y an outer' casing: tf incorporating two; ver;- tically spaced'v beaten-supporting frames1 2 andy 3; Y Said; frames: aree with. bea-rings? 4 and'. 5'-, and: 6:. andi lo. respeetively, inA whichf are? revolubl-y mountedthershaftsi 8?- andz-ilfoftwo relaatiyelly inclinada beaters of. inverted frusta-conical form,.ieachrbeater comprising ar..pluralityof.7 axiale ly'spacedz discs Ia omthe periphery. whereof are xed blades I! of which some are inclinednpe wardly others ddwnwardln. so;- inl-iaty said bladesv `Ida generate ai solidi of; revolfutioniA indicated byrfthefdbtteontlnef l2fiii1i`lig: l'-:.A Tl'ieaXia-h set.:- tin-g.; of: the blades-` H- of.'v oneibeater: staggered in relation to that of the blades of the other beater.

The two beaters are driven to rotate in the same or opposite directions, conveniently by independent electric motors I3 through the medium of belt-and-pulley gearing I4, I5. A grid I6, supported between the frames 2 and 3, surrounds the two beaters and means, not shown, are provided for periodical removal of trash expelled through the bars thereof into the outer parts of the casing.

The material to be treated is fed through a pneumatic trunk entering the grid by an inlet Il at a point near to the base of the left-hand beater. The airstream passes upwardly through the casing and the fibres, after repeated treatment by the blades of the two beaters alternately, are finally discharged from the top of the space enclosed by the grid I6 through the vertical duct I8.

At its base each of the beater shafts 8 and 9 is supported by a footstep bearing IB which may be provided with any suitable means by which it may be raised or lowered, so that either or both of the beaters may be adjusted in an axial direction, for the purpose of regulating the distance between the tips of their blades from the grid bars or for varying the setting of the blades of one beater in relation to those of the other.

Where a horizontal discharge of the opened material is required, as in the embodiment depicted in Figs, 4 and 5, the beaters are driven in opposite directions of rotation; the horizontal discharge duct is indicated at I la. Although the single inlet feed at the base of one beater is preferred, as shown in Fig. 1, either embodiment may be provided with an additional inlet to the base of the second beater if desired; such optional additional inlets are indicated in dotted lines at 20 in Figs. 3 and 5. If desired the additional inlet to the base of the second beater may enter 3 the machine casing on the side opposite to the first inlet.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a machine having two revolving beaters more than two beaters might be used and horizontal beaters might be used instead of vertical beaters.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for opening cotton and the like fibrous material comprising a pair of revolving beaters, a plurality of blades on each beater, a common casing enclosing said beaters, a common grid inside the casing surrounding said beaters, means for introducing material into said grid. said beaters being of frusto-conical form and having their axes inclined to one another, the axial setting of the blades of one beater being relatively staggered in relation to that of the blades of the other beater, said blades extending towards each other Without overlapping thereby causing the material to be opened by the alternate impingement upon masses of cohering bers.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said beaters being upright, said introducing means comprising a feed inlet entering the grid near to the base of one beater, a vertical discharge outlet from the top of the space enclosed by the grid, and means for rotating the beaters in the same direction.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said beaters being upright, said introducing means comprising a feed inlet entering the grid near to the base of one beater, a horizontal discharge outlet from the top of the space enclosed by the grid, and means for rotating the beaters in opposite directions.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said beaters being upright, said introducing means comprising a feed inlet entering the grid near the base of one beater, a vertical discharge outlet from the top of the space enclosed by the grid, means for rotating the beaters in the same direction, and an additional feed inlet entering the grid near to the base of the second beater.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said beaters being upright, said introducing means comprising a` feed inlet entering the grid near the base of one beater, a horizontal discharge outlet from the top of the space enclosed by the grid, means for rotating the beaters in opposite directions, and an additional feed inlet entering the grid near the base of the second beater.

ZOLTAN SZALOKI.

References cited in the me of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,303,026 Cabrera May 6, 1919 1,479,537 Garner Jan. 1, 1924 1,701,796 Reedy Feb. 12, 1929 2,090,925 Wilkinson et al. Aug. 24, 1937 2,386,715 Pharo Oct. 19, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 101,352 Great Britain Aug. 9, 1917 

